House, Senate Move Closer On Incentives Plan

February 17, 2016

The House has moved closer to the Senate on a new process for approving economic incentives as requested by Gov. Rick Scott.

But the two chambers remain apart over how much money to set aside to lure businesses to Florida. Scott met individually Tuesday with incoming Senate President Joe Negron, Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee and House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran in discussions that touched on the governor’s request for $250 million in economic-incentives money and $1 billion in tax cuts.

When asked if Scott appeared willing to accept lower numbers as the two chambers work on a compromise, Negron and Corcoran said the talks with Scott were more about the “big picture” of the funding yet to be finalized.

“We’ve got to start sitting down with the Senate and you’ve got to look at the numbers,” Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, said. “I think the House is committed to doing as much as we can in tax cuts and that’s what we’ve rolled out in our budget.”

Rep. Jim Boyd, a Bradenton Republican who is sponsoring the economic incentive proposal (HB 1325), said the differences with the Senate will have to be worked out in upcoming budget negotiations.

“There a lot of moving parts around the big numbers that we’ve got to kind of wrestle down before we can come up with what exactly we’re going to do,” Boyd said after the House Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee approved the bill Tuesday.

The Senate has gone along with Scott’s request for $250 million in incentives money, though it has not backed his call for $1 billion in tax cuts.

The House, where questions have arisen over the effectiveness of business incentives, so far has offered $80 million for the programs — but has put on the table a nearly $1 billion tax-cut package.

The House economic-incentives total would still be an increase from the $43 million that lawmakers gave the public-private agency Enterprise Florida for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Under Boyd’s bill, both the House and Senate are now proposing that any incentive deals through what is known as the Florida Enterprise Fund would have at least a 20 percent local financial match. Projects would be intended to create at least 10 jobs, and no payments would be made until performance conditions are met.

The Senate incentive policy proposal (SB 1646) also would require projected economic benefits to provide a 2.5-to-1 return on investment. The House measure, which initially stood at 5-to-1, has been moved down to a 3-to-1 return on investment.

Boyd said the lower House ratio is more realistic, pointing to recent deals in which Merritt Island Boat Works intends to open a new manufacturing facility and Hertz has moved its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Estero. They were in the 3-to-1 range.

“It’s still a pretty hefty return on investment in terms of the big picture,” Boyd said.

The House and Senate also have lined up on what is known as the high-impact performance incentive program.

Under the proposed rules, the governor would be able to approve grants under $2 million and only have to provide legislative leadership with a written description of those projects. The House speaker and Senate president would have two weeks to file objections to projects in line to get $2 million or more.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News